Infant&#39;s wear of a convertible toe construction for stretch garments



y 1, 1967 c. SCHWAB ETAL 3,329,972

INFANT'S WEAR OF A CONVERTIBLE TOE CONSTRUCTION FOR STRETCH GARMENTSFiled March 18, 1965 I Leonard C. .Schwab Lois L. Schwab I N VENTOR5 BYal a W 1? Army:

United States Patent 3 329,972 INFANTS WEAR OF A CONVERTIBLE TOE CON-STRUCTION FOR STRETCH GARMENTS Leonard C. Schwab and Lois L. Schwab,both of 900 Frederick St, Cumberland, Md. 21502 Filed Mar. 18, 1965,Ser. No. 440,842 1 Claim. (Cl. 2239) This invention relates to stretchgarment with a covered foot portion called a stretch pajama, stretchleotard, stretch coverall, or any similar name, especially for infantswho are not yet able to walk.

Garments of this character have previously been provided with anenclosed foot, permanently attached to the garment, with ,a bootee whichis detachable or with a foot that can be turned back to expose theentire foot.

It has been brought to the inventors attention that many medical doctorsobject to such a foot even when made from a stretch material, becausethey claim it binds an infants foot restricting both growth andcirculation.

It is the object of this invention to provide a permanently attachedfoot for garments of the type described above on which the toe may beopened to allow the infants foot to move freely and to grow but which atthe same time will provide a cover for most of the foot.

Another object of this invention is to allow the garment to be worneither with the toe closed or open and that it may easily be adjusted toeither position, yet the warmth of the garment will not be affected.

A further object is to provide a convertible toe construction of theabove character which is not too complicated to produce inexpensively.

In accordance with this invention a foot construction for garments ofthe described character include four parts: the body of the garment ofwhich the leg is an integral part: the sole of the garment which isattached to the body except at the toe: a ribbed toe piece which can beworn either open or closed and an instep cuff which closes the garmentwhen the toe is open. In the closed position the toe piece covers thetoe While in the open position it is folded under the sole of the foot.In either position an attractive looking foot is presented.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionare more fully described by the attached drawing and detaileddescription of an illustrative embodiment thereof which is to be usedwith the drawing forming a part hereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a foot construction forgarments of the described character which embodies the present inventionand is shown in its closed position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the foot construction, but,shown in the open position, which exposes the wearers toes and allowsthem to move;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the foot construction shownin FIGURE 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the foot construction shownin the open condition as illustrated in FIGURE 2;

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are reduced scale plan views of blanks of fabricemployed in the foot construction of FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of the foot construction in theinverted position as used in sewing.

In FIGURES 3, 4 and 10 stitching is illustrated at points where thegarment is sewn.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that a footconstruction using the present invention and generally identified by thereference number 10, is intended to be a permanent part of a leg of agarment such as a stretch pajama, stretch leotard or stretch coverallespecially made for infants who are not yet able to walk and which isformed of a stretchable knitted nylon, nylon and cotton, or nylon andpolyester fabric. The leg 15 includes a front part 11 and a back part12, joined together at their longitudinal edges by attaching a strip offabric 14 two inches wide (folded over to make a one inch band) to eachedge and sewing these strips 14 to the edges with a stretchable stitchmade by an overlock machine. Snap fasteners 35 are attached to the bandsat specific intervals to close the leg.

The foot construction 10 (FIG. 5) includes a foot top 20 which is anintegral part of the front part 11 of leg 15. A closing band 21 (FIG. 6)is attached to the part of this top 20 that goes over the instep. Band21 is preferably made of a 1ibbed type stretch fabric and is joined, asare all parts of the foot, with an overlock stitch. The toe piece 22(FIG. 8) which is also made of a ribbed type fabric, is folded over thefoot covering band 21 in the closed position. It is folded under thesole 25 (FIG. 7) in the open position. The sole 25 is attached to thebottom of the foot 10 (FIG. 5

The assembly of the foot 10 which is done with the foot inside out isillustrated in FIG. 10, and described in this paragraph. The strips 14are first stitched to the longitudinal edges of the foot 10. Spur 26(FIG. 5) is then sewed to edge 27. Band 21 is then attached to thehorizontal edge 28 of foot 10. Toe piece 22 is then placed over sole 25and these two pieces are stitched on to foot 10. Sole 25 is placed onthe bottom and toe piece 22 on top of it. These are sewn to foot 10 withband 21 extending on top of the toe piece. The seam around sole 25attaches together toe piece 22, hand 21 and top 20, at point 29 (FIGS. 7and 10). The foot is joined so that spur 26 meets edge 27. Thiscompletes the sewing of the foot and toe construction.

When the entire garment is completed it is inverted, snap fasteners 35are attached to the edge of strip 14 which has been turned back. Thiscloses the seam in the side of the leg.

The various parts of the described foot are so constructed that when thefoot is in its closed position (FIGS. 1 and 3) the toe piece 22 isslightly stretched so that the opening between it and band 21 is tightlyclosed. In the open position (FIGS. 2 and 4) toe piece 22 lies flatagainst the bottom of the sole. Although the fastener 35 which has beenillustrated is a snap fastener, it is understood that other forms ofconventional fastening such as zippers, etc., may be employed.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that foot construction 10 forstretch pajamas, stretch leotards, or stretch coveralls for infants isadapted to either fully enclose the wearers foot or when desired, may beeasily opened to fully expose the infants toes, allowing for full growthand movement, without requiring removal of the garment or separation ofthe foot.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been describedin detail herein with reference to the attached drawing it is understoodthat this invention is not limited to that precise embodiment and thatvarious changes in modification may be effected therein with outdeparting from the scope or spirit of the invention except as defined inthe attached claim.

What is claimed is:

A stretch type garment for pre-walking infants, said garment having ,apair of legs, each of said legs having a foot enclosing member at thelower end thereof, each foot enclosing member comprising a foot solecovering portion adapted to underlie the sole of the foot of the wearersubstantially throughout its area, a foot top covering portion joined tothe foot sole covering portion along only the side edges thereof withthe forward edge 'jacent side edge portions of the foot sole coveringportion, said toe covering portion extending rearwardly and terminatingin a rear edge disposed normally in overlapping relation to the frontedge of the foot top covering portion for completely enclosing the foot,said toe covering portion being foldable along its line of attachment tothe foot sole covering portion into underlying relation -to the frontportion of the foot sole covering portion for exposing the toe region ofthe foot of a wearer while covering the sole and instep region of thefoot of the wearer, said toe covering portion being constructed of aresilient fabric material forming the sole means for retaining it inclosed position and retaining the foot sole covering portion inunderlying engagement with the foot of a wearer when folded intounderlying relation thereto,

said foot top covering portion being provided with a front edge portionconstructed of resilient fabric material for snugly embracing the footof a wearer to retain the foot covering member in place when the toecovering portion is in openrcondition with the embracing engagement withthe foot being rearwardly of but adjacent the a toe region. a ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS. 2,655,660 10/1953 Racz 2239 X 2,677,1605/1954 OHayer 2---75 2,705,326 4/1955 Lahnstein et a1. 2-83 3,111,67611/ 1963 Artzt et al. 280

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

- I. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner.

